ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A COVID-19 outbreak at a Rochester apartment building has residents calling on local leaders for help.

“We have a giant uptick of coronavirus cases… and no one will help us,” said assistant property manager of Charlotte Harbortown Homes, Nicole Schuth, “It’s very alarming. Very alarming.”

What You Need To Know

  • Assistant property manager of Charlotte Harbortown Homes Nicole Schuth says, of Thursday, there are 23 confirmed cases at the Lake Avenue apartment complex

  • Residents are asked to socially distance and stay inside their apartments

  • Schuth says she was told that the county does not have the manpower to test at the apartment building

  • She says the county plans to give them materials and procedural information, but offered no testing advice

There are 550 units at the complex, with 250 in the main high rise.  

Schuth says, of Thursday, there are 23 confirmed cases at the Lake Avenue apartment complex. Those are just the cases she knows about, from residents or families who’ve volunteered the information.

“We’re concerned for all of our residents and staff that comes in and out every day. A lot of us have families, we’re scared," said Schuth.

Residents are asked to socially distance and stay inside their apartments.

Samantha Williams lives on the 14th floor.

"Gloves on, mask on, Lysol spray and I stay prayed up, I stay prayed up,” Williams said. “We really need some help out here.”

Schuth reached out to the State, County and City for guidance.

"We’re asking anybody in Rochester who is able to provide help, Adam Bello, the City of Rochester, the mayor, anybody who can help us bring this problem back down would be wonderful,” Schuth said.

Spectrum News also reached out to the County and the City. Thursday afternoon the Monroe County health department responded to the facility. Schuth says the health department told her there was an issue with contact tracing, something the Monroe County commissioner of public health also mentioned during Thursday's briefing.

“We were behind over the weekend. We are much less behind now,” said Dr. Michael Mendoza.

Schuth says she was told that the county does not have the manpower to test at the apartment building.

Folks who live at Charlotte Harbor Town Homes are 55 years old or older or have a disability. It is not an assisted living facility, though, so it does not fall under New York State’s guidelines for assisted living facilities or nursing homes.

“A lot of them can’t drive. A lot of them don’t have family members or family in general here. We are in a bus route and then if they are sick we don’t want them to go into the hallways, use the elevator, common areas," said Schuth. 

She says the county plans to give them materials and procedural information, but offered no testing advice. She gave the health department the names of the COVID-19-positive patients so the health department can follow up with each of them.

“It’s only going to get worse before it gets better if we can’t get all of our residents tested," said Schuth.

Correction: The previous version incorrectly referred to Charlotte Harbortown Homes as Charlotte Harbor Town Homes.